When Kenny Chesney tips his hat these days, he’s not hiding anything – literally. The country superstar recently opened up about losing his hair at just 19 years old and how what once felt “socially traumatic” eventually became one of the best things to happen to him.
Chesney, 57, told People that his hair began falling out while he was still in high school, sometimes coming off in clumps inside his football helmet.
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“I remember playing high school football, and I’d take my helmet off, and I’d see all this hair in there, and I was freaking out,” he said in the interview published on Friday, October 31. “Now though, in my life, I’m really glad that happened early because I have friends my age who are losing their hair, and they are really freaking out.”
Chesney, who was recently inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, said the early loss taught him a few things about acceptance and aging.
“In ways, I don’t really age,” he joked. “I kind of stay the same because of it.”
Regardless, he admitted it wasn’t easy at the time.
“It was socially traumatic,” the “American Kids” singer explained.
Still, what began as a teenage insecurity ended up giving him the confidence to step out of the crowd.
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“Just a few years after going through that, I was the guy in the corner playing music, and that changed my life,” he said.
Chesney also credited his mom, Karen Chandler, who worked as a hairdresser, for playing an unintentional role in his signature look.
“My mom went to beauty school, and I was her guinea pig on how to do stuff,” he added. “I’d go to school smelling like all these chemicals. And she hates this story because she denies it, but I’m convinced that’s what it was.”
Now, decades later, the eight-time Entertainer of the Year has fully embraced his smooth, sun-soaked image and it’s one that goes perfectly with his laid-back beach anthems and easygoing attitude.
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“I got the love of the ocean, the love of sunlight, the love of music, and the love of love from my mom,” he said.
Chesney’s stories about his mom, his early hair loss and more are featured in his upcoming book Heart Life Music, out November 4.